Alms for terror

In today’s New York Sun, Josh Gerstein previews the trial beginning today in Dallas of the Hamas financiers who operated via Holy Land Foundation. The government has named CAIR as an unindicted co-conspirator in the case and CAIR of course condemns the prosecution:

“The prosecution is trying to criminalize humanitarian aid,” the vice president of the Dallas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Khalil Meek, said. “The Holy Land Foundation and its associates are not charged with any violence. They actually did feed, clothe, shelter, and provide medical support to humanitarian efforts all over the world.”

Gerstein explains:

Prosecutors contend that $12.4 million raised by the foundation between 1995 and 2001 went to charitable committees in Gaza and the West Bank set up to receive tithing, or zakat, from Muslims. The prosecution alleges that the zakat committees were controlled by Hamas and sometimes singled out the families of Hamas “martyrs” for assistance.
“The government’s case is pretty strong in terms of